DCD is a facility located in Tooele County where, under terms of an international treaty, the nation’s stockpile of chemical weapons is being destroyed. Before his convictions of falsifying records, Yarbrough was a worker at the Oquirrh Mountain Facility Plant at the depot (formerly CAMDS), a unit responsible for devising technology to safely destroy those weapons.

Throughout three days of court proceedings last summer, defense attorney Earl Xiaz adamantly stated that Yarbrough’s DCD records were not falsified. Xiaz said his client was guilty of nothing more than providing his own personal worksheets, which recorded a different type of baseline test.

During several subsequent interviews with the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin, Yarbrough, a 52-year-old Stockton resident, has consistently maintained his innocence.

Yarbrough says it was impossible for either his attorney or the U.S. Attorney General’s office in Salt Lake City to familiarize a layman jury concerning government procedures at DCD in a mere three days.

On the other hand, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hirata has insisted that Yarbrough is, indeed, guilty of the charges of which he’s been convicted. According to the prosecutor, Yarbrough presented worksheets to his supervisors that seemed to show that DCD equipment had passed safety tests, when in reality it had not.

On July 6, 2002, the government suspended DCD operations at the Oquirrh Mountain Facility Plant because of inconsistencies found in results of baseline tests supervised by Yarbrough. Operations at the facility were resumed Oct. 28, 2002, after a new baseline monitoring system was completed.

In his interviews with this newspaper, Yarbrough has repeatedly stated his belief that he is nothing more than the “fall guy” for the government.

“Most people don’t realize we battled about these same subjects for at least two years before the Army came up with their baseline testing story,” Yarbrough has stated. “The Army decided to clean house at DCD.”

Yarbrough has expressed that while he has no “ill feelings” toward jury members who convicted him, the jury simply did not have sufficient time to understand DCD procedures.

“The court was total confusion amid objections, rulings, and exaggerations,” Yarbrough said. “Then (government prosecutors) used the scare and terror of ‘weapons of mass destruction.’ The jury had no choice (but to reach a guilty verdict).”

According to Yarbrough, the Army is using unsafe methods to destroy DCD’s stockpile of chemical agents.

“Additional methods must be implemented to speed the removal of these deadly chemical agents,” he said. “The Army cannot hide the fact that the furnace stack monitoring is so seriously flawed that it is nonexistent.”

Yarbrough added, “The Army and I are both in ‘no win’ situations, but if I am sentenced to prison, everyone will know the Army unrealistically exaggerated this travesty. Their cover-ups are apparent.”

In fact, Yarbrough compares himself to David Johnson and Tom Welch, Utah Winter Olympics directors who were recently exonerated by Federal Court Judge David Sam of charges of wrongdoing. According to Yarbrough, the government needed to blame someone for errors at DCD, and he just happens to be the fall guy.

Efforts to reach U.S. Federal Court Assistant Prosecutor Hirata by the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin today were unsuccessful. A voice mail on Hirata’s phone stated he would be out of the office until Jan. 13.

However, U.S. Federal Court spokesperson Melodie Rydalch stated that the jury’s conviction of Yarbrough on seven counts of falsifying government reports “speaks for itself.”

In a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon, Rydalch stated that after Yarbrough’s original conviction, the defendant was further denied a retrial by Judge Campbell.

“The judge looked at the issues again and denied a new trial,” Rydalch stated.

Yarbrough says he was appalled by Judge Campbell’s denial of a new trial.

“We had at least two more witnesses who wanted to testify during our motion hearing for a new trial,” Yarbrough stated. “All of a sudden, Judge Campbell said she had heard enough. She didn’t even listen to two of our witnesses.”

Alaine Southworth, public affairs specialist for DCD, told the Tooele Transcript-Bulletin Wednesday that, “This episode with Mr. Yarbrough has been an unfortunate violation of worker trust. The guilty verdict reinforces the Army’s commitment to safety and the protection of our employees and the local community.”

Southworth added that it’s important for the public to understand that “DCD has employees who are qualified in monitoring issues.” She said those employees do understand the complex issues of monitoring “and we do have oversight at both state and federal levels.”

The DCD spokeswoman added, “The bottom line is, DCD is committed to the safety of our workers and the community.”

e-mail: maryruth@tooeletranscript.com